Any Closed Loop Pump Recommendations

[kingfish]

I am looking for a closed loop pump recommendation for by 210 tank set up. I would like to hear what wamas members recommend. I have 5-i.5 inch holes drilled in my tank by NAGA. I drain with 4 returns. I will be using an ocean motion to alter flow. I am looking for a low wattage quiet pump with a flow up over 2500 gph.

[Grav]

Yer not going to like it, but...

 

I've seen nothing but pain from the OM products. Some never work right, others are great for a year then fail. I've probably seen 10 or 12 including one squirt I had on my personal 180g tank, but I don't think I've ever seen one older than 2 years that was still funtional.

 

I think with the new propeller pumps tunze, vortec and even the new Korallia closed loops really aren't needed anymore.

 

That all said, if you are going to have a chiller, the velocity series pumps have no external fan, and are water cooled... but dead silent. Maybe drill another drain hole, and have 2 small pumps each going to 2 retun holes and alternate your flow manually with valves.

[zygote2k]

I just got done sealing a closed loop system because it had a catastrophic failure. It had an OM4 and a Dart Snapper pump.

It did work fine until the problem occurred, but make sure that you have check and/or ball valves with unions for each hole in case something goes wrong or you need to change the OM4.

[kingfish]

Yer not going to like it, but...

 

I've seen nothing but pain from the OM products. Some never work right, others are great for a year then fail. I've probably seen 10 or 12 including one squirt I had on my personal 180g tank, but I don't think I've ever seen one older than 2 years that was still funtional.

 

I think with the new propeller pumps tunze, vortec and even the new Korallia closed loops really aren't needed anymore.

 

That all said, if you are going to have a chiller, the velocity series pumps have no external fan, and are water cooled... but dead silent. Maybe drill another drain hole, and have 2 small pumps each going to 2 retun holes and alternate your flow manually with valves.

 

1. Wouldn't the 1-1.5 in drain work if I split it to return to two closed loop pumps for return? I don't want to drill another drain.

2. I want a clean look in the tank and didnt want to use internal pumps.

[Integral9]

+1 on the controllable power heads. I'm building up a 135 and I am going to go with either the koralia or the Vortec (if I can afford it) controllable power heads.

 

I like grav's idea, but instead of alternating with a valve, put each pump on an alternating timer and cycle back and forth between each pump 5 mins apart or so.

[kingfish]

O.k. I have taken into consideration of external pump but all I am asking for is recommendations on closed loop pumps. I am looking for a recommendations on external pumps that put out a high flow (2500 +), low decibel (if possible), and low wattage (want to keep amperage draw as low as possible). The rest I can achieve on my own. I am simply trying to save myself some research time.

[Chad]

I am guessing that the pump will be beneath your tank (since you want it to be quiet). I would go with a reeflo dart. Without knowing your specific piping setup, it is difficult to be sure, but it will likely meet your flow/noise needs.

 

 

[Coral Hind]

I 2nd the reeflo dart. Also check on the reeflo snapper which runs around your 2500gph min but would use less power then the dart.

[kingfish]

Thanks guys To provide a little more insight into what I "plan " on doing. I want to hard plumb and route the return and drain lines for the closed loop.

 

All equipment will be placed under the stand: Skimmer, sump, refugium. Stand deminsions 66 in X 28 in x 36 in.

 

Order of priorirty for the closed loop pump selection:

 

1. Price:

2. Reliability

3. wattage usage:

3. Flowrate (closed loop): 2500 +/- 500 gpm.

4. Noise level (Lower the better)

 

I plan on going with a 4 way ocean motion. My tank has a hole cut in each corner of the tank for sequencial or opossed return. The drain line on the tank is near the center overflow. My holes are 1-1/2 diamter. Pitures are worth a thousand words. The tank as shown is upside down.

 

Edited November 4, 2010 by kingfish

[davelin315]

Knock on wood, hopefully I'm not jinxing myself, but the only issue I have had with my OM 8 way was when I got sand into it and it jammed up. I have never had to do any maintenance on it other than cleaning the drum the first time. I run mine with a Reeflo Barracuda and have it exiting (obviously) through 8 returns and it is fed with a single drain. I have had my tank running for almost 3 years now without any issues with it.

[DaveS]

+1 on the Dart. Take a look at my build thread. This post in particular will give you some insight on my CL/OM set up. http://www.wamas.org/forums/topic/30935-daves-210-redux/page__view__findpost__p__297502